Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel wins 2nd term in runoff victory

CHICAGO (AP) — Rahm Emanuel won
re-election Tuesday as voters in Chicago's first mayoral runoff
decided that, despite his brusque management style, the former
White House chief of staff was best equipped to deal with the
many dire challenges facing the nation's third-largest
city.

Emanuel was forced to campaign furiously across the city to beat
Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia after failing to
capture a majority against four other candidates in a February
election.

The mayoral runoff was the first since the city changed the way
it conducts elections about 20 years ago.

"To all the voters I want to thank you for putting me through my
paces," Emanuel told supporters Tuesday night. "I will be a
better mayor because of that. I will carry your voices, your
concerns into ... the mayor's office."

With nearly all voting precincts reporting results, Emanuel had
about 56 percent of the vote compared to around 44 percent for
Garcia.

"We didn't lose today, we tried," Garcia told supporters gathered
at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "We fought hard for
what we believed in. You don't succeed at this or anything else
unless you try."

The incumbent highlighted tough decisions he's made since
succeeding former Mayor Richard M. Daley in 2011, but admitted
that his management approach too often rubbed city residents the
wrong way. He portrayed Garcia as too inexperienced to handle the
city's financial crunch.

Many of those heading to the polls Tuesday said the election
should be a signal.

"Hopefully he (Emanuel) takes heed of the runoff when he should
have been a shoo-in," said Richard Rowe, a 50-year-old, who
planned to vote for the incumbent.

Jesus Fernandez, a 44-year-old window washer who voted for
Garcia, had the same view.

"If he (Garcia) gets close, we might push Rahm to do something,"
Fernandez said. "At least we push him a little bit."

Emanuel raised far more money than Garcia, plastered the airwaves
with ads and had support from his former boss, President Barack
Obama, who cast an early ballot for him from Washington.

Beginning Wednesday, the mayor faces huge obstacles in his second
term, from fixing the worst-funded pension systems of any big
U.S. city to stemming stubborn violence and confronting labor
unions that just spent millions trying to defeat him.

Chicago's four pension systems are about $20 billion in debt, and
the fund for Chicago Public Schools teachers is short about $7
billion of what's needed to pay benefits as promised.

If Emanuel can't work a deal with labor unions or get the
Illinois Legislature to approve relief, the city is on the hook
for an additional $550 million yearly payment to the retirement
accounts, bringing the total payment to about $1 billion. He's
said that would be roughly equal to the annual cost of having
4,300 police officers on the street or raising property taxes by
150 percent.

Emanuel also must deal with ongoing concerns about crime, one of
the areas Garcia hit him on repeatedly during the election. After
a spike in homicides early in his first term, the number fell to
the lowest level in a half-century though the number of shootings
has climbed 12 percent.

"I'm proud of what we've accomplished in these past four years,
but I understand the challenges we face will require me to
approach them differently and to work in a different fashion,"
Emanuel said. "The only way to meet these challenges is to bridge
the gaps between the things that divide us and start focusing on
the things that unite us and bring us together."

Garcia, a former community organizer, alderman and state
lawmaker, ran a campaign focused on the city's neighborhoods,
with support from teachers and unions upset with Emanuel. He
accused the mayor of being out of touch with voters and blamed
him for the fiscal problems, while playing up the mayor's push to
close about 50 schools and a gang violence problem that spiked
during Emanuel's first term.

He also vowed to end Chicago's troubled red-light camera system,
which some residents believe is discriminatory and focuses more
on revenue than safety.

Election officials said more than 142,300 Chicago voters cast
early ballots for the runoff, far outpacing early voting turnout
in February and four years ago.